We’ve been reporting on 6Sec, the new Vine app from developer extraordinaire Rudy Huyn (Wikipedia, Fuse, TVShow) for a few weeks now, detailing some of the progress of the app. Then earlier this morning, we told you it was set for public release after many hard hours of beta testing by nearly a thousand users.
While an official Vine app was announced last week for Windows Phone, from our understanding that app is still in gestation and we don’t expect it for weeks if not months to hit the Store. Even then, we have a sneaky suspicion that Huyn’s version will still be better, due to his flair for design and perfection.
Luckily for Windows Phone 8 fans, you can now join in on the Vine-phenomenon by downloading 6Sec right from the Store today.
Vine, for those who aren’t familiar, is a new service acquired by the folks at Twitter and launched on iOS in January of this year. Later, an Android version of the app was also launched and promises of it reaching other platforms were made though no firm date or announcement for Windows Phone was ever established. The service does to video what Twitter has done to text messaging, that is it forces an arbitrary limit (six seconds) for what are essentially time-lapsed video clips that can be shared on social networks, including Twitter and Facebook.
The service was scoffed at first by many, much like Twitter, but as it turns out the platform has forced some unique creativity from users and it is steadily taking off. However, Twitter frienemy Instagram recently launched “Instagram video” which doubles the length for the video clips and allows the application of its famous filters, all in an attempt to steal Vine’s thunder.
Regardless, those on Windows Phone can now take part in the Vine revolution. While other apps on the platform have allowed users to view Vines from other users, 6Sec is the first application to allow the creation and uploading of Vine videos directly from the phone.
The solution from developer Rudy Huyn is a familiar one: use the Vine APIs and an intermediary server to process your videos and uploads. Because of that, Huyn incurs a cost for maintaining hardware for 6Sec, something for which he hopes to recoup by the modest in-app purchase.
The app though has also undergone an extensive and widely publicized Beta test, ensuring a smooth, polished product chock full of features, including:
- Lens support – Users can create Vines from within the camera app
- Account creation – Create an account, login with Facebook and manage your account e.g. profile photo
- Explore trending posts, featured hashtags and channels
- Search Vines using hashtags
- Share Vines to Twitter and Facebook
- Live Tile – double wide tile support, including notification support (background agent)
In short, 6Sec is not only a superb Vine client, it is arguably better than the official apps found on iOS and Android.
But don’t take our word for it, head to the Store now to give 6Sec an official spin here. The app is free to try, though the upload feature can only be used twice, after which a modest, one-time in-app purchase is required to continue to create Vines. Windows Phone 8 only.
Have feedback on the app? Make sure you post it below as Huyn will often respond to comments and questions!
